Force Lawyer Inquests and Inquiries

Salary: Band 11, £53,583 – £58,455

Location: Agile, Forth Banks Police Station and homeworking

Hours/Contract: 37 hours per week, permanent

The role

Here at Northumbria Police, we think our region is amazing! It takes a great deal of people from different backgrounds, with diverse skills and experience to serve our force area effectively, think you have what it takes to help us make a difference? This could be the perfect time for you to join us in our Legal Department as a Force Lawyer Inquests and Inquiries.

As a Force Lawyer (Inquests and Inquiries), you will provide a comprehensive legal service to the force in relation to inquests and inquiries law, and other areas of public and police law.

What you’ll do

• Inquest and Inquiry Casework: Handle allocated casework related to inquest and inquiries law, conduct court proceedings including advocacy, manage resources, and liaise with relevant stakeholders to provide comprehensive legal services to the Chief Constable.
• Legal Advice: Provide courteous and timely advice on all legal issues, ensuring high-quality legal services to support decision-making.
• External Legal Specialists: Select, appoint, and monitor the performance of external legal specialists, complete necessary documentation, and obtain approval from the Legal SMT to ensure appropriate advice and representation, ensuring value for money.
• Research and Guidance: Research new legislation and case law, assess their impact on the force, and disseminate guidance to inform legal policies and procedures, minimizing litigation risks.
• Reports and Briefings: Prepare reports, briefing papers, and media statements with recommendations and advice for internal departments or external bodies.
• Skill Maintenance: Maintain up-to-date skills and knowledge to perform the duties of an inquests and inquiries lawyer, conduct advocacy, attend court as directed, and support other areas of the Department.

What you’ll bring

• Solicitor Admission: Admission as a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales.
• Litigation Experience: Minimum of five years of litigation experience.
• Caseload Management: Experience in managing your own caseload, determining necessary investigations, and organizing meetings.
• Court Compliance: Ability to comply with key dates set by the Court.
• Inquest/Inquiry Skills: Ability to identify key issues in an inquest or inquiry and determine the most effective method to assist the tribunal.
• Advisory Skills: Ability to advise other departments on the lawfulness of their decision-making.
• Team Collaboration: Ability to work with and support other department members and liaise with other areas of the force as necessary.
• Issue Identification and Communication: Ability to identify issues affecting other areas of the force and communicate these through the Senior Management Team, Chief Officer Team, and OPCC when necessary.

We know it’s important for you to feel that you’re not only part of a great team, but part of a community. We welcome applications from suitably qualified people from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

Harnessing these differences creates a productive environment in which everyone feels valued, and their talents are fully utilised. Appointments are based on merit alone.

Just so you know

Our application form will help us understand how your work, education and life experience has prepared you for the role of a Force Lawyer Inquests and Inquiries with #TeamNP. To help support your application research what makes us tick here at Northumbria, the role you’re applying for and the values and behaviours that contribute.

The recruitment process will consist of the initial application form followed by a face-to-face interview. Just so you know, you can save your application and come back to it any time prior to the closing date on the advert.

We are proud members of the Business Disability Forum, with whom we collaborate with to improve the lives of disabled employees. We are also a Disability Confident Employer, therefore if you demonstrate that you meet the minimum criteria for this role as stated in the advert, we will progress your application and offer you an interview.

If you tell us that you have a disability, we can make adjustments to support you through the recruitment process (for example we can arrange extra time for tests or provide a sign language interpreter) You can get in touch with us via [email protected] for any support regarding the application process. Please provide us with plenty of notice so we can ensure your visit goes smoothly.

If your application is successful, we’ll ask you to complete a Recruitment Vetting (RV) form, therefore you must be a resident of the UK for a minimum period of 3 years to ensure vetting checks can be successfully performed. A job offer will be dependent upon vetting clearance, medical information, and references.

Terms of appointment

This is a permanent role subject to a six-month probationary period.

If you are successful in your application, you will have a six-month probation period with us where you will be unable to apply for any other post advertised internally or externally.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.